Not Coming Back
by WolfByDaylight
Summary: Simple jobs are hard to find. When the crew tries to pull a job for Badger, Jayne finds his sister and she comes aboard. Meanwhile, rats run rampant on Serenity. Will Mal let Kaylee's cat be member of the crew and clear the ship?
1. Easy Cash

**A/N: Alright guys, time to make the Browncoat fandom cry tears of blood again because I'm back! And for all you folks who are wondering about Springtrap and Jackie, Possession and The Tragic Case, stop. I've been a bit busy, so you're probably wondering, Wolf you gorgeous great dane, if you have been busy why are you posting this? My answer? We were told to do a project on something we are passionate about. So I and my dear friend JacquiChu made this. She drew the pictures and I wrote it, so credit for the cover goes to her! Yeah, sorry. I can't write Firefly good. I will be uploading chapters daily (as the story's finished, there's no pressure) so sit back and enjoy! It's gonna be a long 15 days...**

 _Chapter 1: Easy Cash_

Jayne Cobb sat on the train quietly. He honestly didn't want to do the job they'd been offered, but money was tight and he needed an excuse to not shoot Mal and take over. To be honest, it wasn't so much the job he didn't like but the build-up to it. Sitting quietly on a train until it came time to claim the goods wasn't exactly the best way to spend his time. He'd rather be in his bunk polishing up Vera. But the job had good pay and 10% would get him a small fortune.

Mal looked over at Zoe. "Time check." He said.

Zoe checked her watch. "We hit the main station in 10 minutes."

"Right. Let's go." The three quickly left their seats and proceeded to the carriage that was supposed to have the goods. A companion was traveling private in there and in the carriage behind were a few feds. After taking out said – feds Zoe spoke.

"I'll go in, sir." Zoe said. "I'll be able to get the stuff quickly."

"No, Zoe. I need you to stand guard with me, case the feds come to. Jayne will go in."

Jayne looked at Mal in surprise. "Don't you usually go in, rob them, cause I normally kill folk?"

"Well this time, Jayne, I'm trusting you. Don't kill her, and you get an extra 3 percent." Mal said. Zoe sighed and joined Mal at the door.

Jayne went inside the carriage quietly. Zoe looked over at Mal. "Sir, you sure this is a good idea?"

Mal looked back. "No."

Zoe groaned. "Yeah, this is going to go brilliantly…"

…

For once, Jayne decided to be quiet. The 3 percent might not be that much of an upgrade if you thought about it, but it was still an upgrade. And enough of an upgrade to think it was worth it.

The companion sat, reading a book with the goods next to her. Jayne grinned quietly and approached her. As he forked through the bag, he saw something that shocked him. Twin long, almost - glowing swords lay in the box with opals in their hilts. Swords his sister owned.

Suddenly he gained a punch to the side of the head. He stood up and glared at the companion who glared back. He grabbed his gun quick as lightning and she grabbed the swords just as fast. The two stared across the carriage, daring the other to make the first move.


	2. Meanwhile

On _Serenity,_ one of few gen 3 Firefly class transports left, an unusual quiet held the ship like how a kraken held sailing ships on Earth-That-Was. River was drawing in her room with Simon beside her, Inara and Wash were on the bridge having a discussion, Kaylee was tinkering and Book was reading. Things tended to be quieter when the Captain was on a job with Zoe and Jayne. _Serenity_ was hardly ever silent though. There was almost always someone talking or the engine would be making noise. The only time there had been silence was when the catalyzer blew and almost everyone abandoned ship.

…

"You know Inara, last time we did a train job things went wrong. _Very_ wrong. Like, do-the-job-only-to-give-back-the-goods-and-kick-the-employer's-main-man-into-our-engine-and-then-be-hunted-down-and-tortured wrong." Wash said while fiddling with his plastic stegosaurus, who had miraculously survived a t-rex's sudden but inevitable betrayal.

Inara smiled. "Well, this time they're not doing a job for Niska, but for Badger. Things won't end as badly."

"At least Mal's ear stayed on."

"You weren't listening to me were you?"

"Of course I was."

Inara raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because-" She stopped halfway through her sentence and leapt on top of a small table. Wash stared at her in surprise. "RAT!" She yelped. A small grey rat trotted across the console.

"Well, thank goodness! I needed something to close the ads that come up every time we get close to a planet." Wash smiled. Inara glared at him. A black rat promptly dropped down onto Inara's table. She edged away from it, slowly heading towards the dining area, only to turn around and go back into the bridge when she saw a white rat quietly sitting in the entrance, watching her with red eyes.

Inara gave Wash a look that could kill. "If you dare make a joke-"

"It's gotten to the point where even I can't make a joke about this affair. I could say something about how we'll not run out of food, but I won't." Wash picked up one of his dinosaurs and left the bridge. "I'm going to find out if Kaylee can make a rat trap and check if the cargo bay is suffering from an infestation." Inara sat down in the pilot's chair and tried to put as much space between her and the rats as humanly possible. But the three rats were quite smart for an animal that enjoyed living in human _chuánwěi_ and had set it up so she couldn't leave the bridge without brushing past, and probably being bitten, by one of the rats. 


	3. What's taking so long?

" _Captain, you might wanna hurry. We're facing an imminent takeover right now and we need you back on the ship. You're running overtime, though. What's taking so long?"_ Wash's voice echoed quietly through the com.

"He's right. We should be off this _guòyú wánměi_ train by now. What's taking Jayne so long?" Mal muttered crossly.

…

Jayne and the companion glared at each other as they circled, each sizing the other up. Jayne began thinking hard as he watched her. "I can beat this _biǎo zi_ easy." he thought. "She's smaller than me. She's weaker. Piece of cake." His thoughts were interrupted by the companion as she swung the sword quickly from her elbow. The cut stung, but pain was nothing new to the mercenary. He responded with firing a bullet into her leg. She yelped, but her grip on the sword only tightened. She swung the sword and knocked the gun out of Jayne's hand. "Typical boys, trying to take something that doesn't belong to them. Boys just ain't happy keeping to their own gorramn toys." She snarled.

"You should talk! How'd you get your hands on swords like them? Steal 'em I suppose."

"As a matter of fact, they're a family heirloom."

"Funny. I seem to recall those swords over my father's mantelpiece; the light of the fire that warms 'em making them shine and glow all pretty-like. They're family heirlooms all right, but not one that's for your family."

"Well they hung over my father's mantelpiece, as the fire made them glow. I and my little brother playing together on the rug, admiring the swords and watching the fire."

"JAYNE! What the _dìyù_ is taking so long?!" Mal shouted. The companion's eyes widened.

"Jayne?"

"Della?"

"I think you shot me." Della whispered.

"Yeah, I did a bit." The two hugged.

…

The feds were waking up. Zoe and Mal knew they couldn't fool around much longer. "Jayne! HURRY UP!" Jayne and Della quickly joined Mal and Zoe in the fed carriage. "Who's this?" Mal asked.

"Captain, I've got some good news and some bad news. The companion's my sister and we haven't seen each other in years."

"Okay. What's the good news?" Mal said.

Jayne punched him. "That _was_ the good news." Jayne muttered.

"The bad news must be terrible then." Mal said. Jayne punched him again.


	4. Two more crew?

"Wash! What's the trouble?" Mal said as he entered _Serenity_. Close behind him were Zoe, Jayne and Della.

"Rats." Wash said. "Inara's terrified of them and is stuck in the bridge because of it."

"Really?" Mal said, smiling an almost evil smile. "I better go make sure she's okay…"

"Alright everyone, place your bets! Inara slapping him is looking pretty good with a 30 percent chance!" Wash spoke in a showy manner while Zoe quietly laughed at him.

"Come on Della, we better get you to the med bay so the doc can see to the bullet wound." Jayne said, helping his sister limp through the ship into the medbay.

"Hey Zo, who is she?" Wash asked.

"Jayne's sister." Zoe replied. "She and Jayne had a bit of a fight."

"In that case, he's lucky to be alive."

"He?"

"Jayne."

...

Simon saw Jayne supporting a beautiful lady and rolled his eyes. But turned when he heard Jayne speak. "Doc, we got a bullet wound here!" Simon left River's side and ran to the medbay.

"So you aren't just kidnapping a fine lady to have for yourself. I'm impressed."

"Please, she's lovely but she's my sister. I can't be with her."

"And even if I wasn't your sister, you'd be out of your league."

…

"Inara! I see you're having some trouble with rats." Mal said as he entered the bridge. Inara was still on the chair. "Isn't your 'Companion Training' supposed to protect you from squeamishness?"

Inara glared at him. "There are such a thing as phobias, Mal."

Kaylee poked her head in. "Captain, you're-" she stopped when she saw the rats. "Oh, _that's_ why Wash wanted to know if I could build a rat trap. I'll be right back."

…

River had escaped the eyes of the crew. And now she brought Prawns out to play. Prawns was small, with light blue eyes and dark fur. Prawns was a kitten Kaylee had purchased on Regina and had kept secret for some time. Simon and River had found out and been sworn to secrecy when Mal had been kept by Atherton Wing and challenged to a shindig. Kaylee entered. "River, can I borrow the kitten?"

"River will share the Prawns." River whispered quietly. Kaylee took that as a yes and picked up the small cat.

…

Kaylee put a dark grey creature on the floor, which promptly began chasing the rats. Mal looked at her in disbelief. " _Wuh duh ma huh tah duh fong kwong duh wai_ _shung_ Kaylee, is that a _cat_!?""


	5. Too many cooks

Della was walking around already despite Simon's pleading. "I've been shot before. Once I had to walk for a day after being shot in the leg to get to a medical facility. And I didn't have a fancy bandage, just a leaf. I can handle walking around the ship." And she had decided she was cooking dinner, which everyone was okay with (aside from Simon). After all, no-one on the ship could really cook.

The cat watched as Della prepared a soup, and tasted it. Deciding that the soup was too bland, she knocked down a little shakey tub of cinnamon and mewed to get Della's attention. She looked at the tub. "I knew it was missing something!" Della smiled and gave the cat a rub. She shook the cinnamon tub once and gave the cat another taste. "How is it now?" She asked. The cat let out a small mew, and pulled a small hunk of beef out of the cupboard. "Needs beef, hmm?" Della cut off about a quarter of the beef and diced it up.

After cooking it, she added it to the soup. She tasted the soup, and gagged. The cat tasted it, and purred. "Nice for a cat, terrible for a human." Della sighed. "Your kitchen days are over, Jamie Oliver junior. Now I need to prepare something-" she stopped mid-sentence as she saw a clump of rosemary. An idea popped into her head like someone had turned on a light.

She poked the rosemary into the rest of the beef and tied it up in a net of string before slow cooking it. She then poured a little of the soup into a small bowl and put it on the floor, where the cat proceeded to swallow it down. Bringing the rest of the soup to a boil, Della grabbed a few other spices and put them in. "Spices," She whispered. "Can save anything." After stirring the soup she took a taste. "Much better." The soup smelled delicious. It was definitely worth the trouble of saving it. And by the time she had finished rescuing the soup, the beef was ready and delicious. Della cut away the string net and cut it into slices.

There were still plenty of ingredients that she could use, before she'd boarded the train she had planned to go on board a different spaceship and bring with her plenty of things to cook with. But she hadn't wanted to use too many of them yet. After all, she wanted to go as long as they could without having to eat protein. It wasn't exactly the nicest thing in the 'verse. Even with her herbs and spices.

…

"Mrowr?" The cat looked up at Della hopefully. "No, kitten. I just saved the soup. There isn't any left. Go hunt some rats. I think it's the only way we can convince the Captain not to throw you out the airlock or dump you on another planet."

"Mrowr." The cat left the kitchen and started a hunt for rats. Upon finding, fighting and killing a rat with a head twice the size of her right front paw she had a genius idea. She knew this wasn't exactly the best way to convince the captain of her worth, but who would pass up a good prank like this? Certainly not Prawns.


	6. Catnap to the Rescue

"Right, that cat has got to go!" Mal snapped, looking at the giant rat in the doorway to Inara's shuttle.

"The cat can't have killed that rat." Book said. "Look at the size of it. Its head is at least twice the size of her paws. Cats sometimes struggle with normal-sized rats, let alone one like this. She'd have at least gotten a broken bone."

"And the cat's asleep." Kaylee muttered, running her hand over Prawns' side.

"I don't care who or what killed the rat, just please get rid of it." Inara groaned. She was pale, and looked like she was about to pass out.

"Okay." Mal sighed, picking up the giant rat.

"On the contrary, captain, we could mount it." Wash said.

"NO!" Inara yelped.

"I was kidding! Can't anyone on this crew take a joke?" Wash shouted as Mal threw the rat out the airlock.

"Hardly something to joke about, Wash. The size of this rat just proves that the cat has to go."

"How so?"

"Well, if a rat grew this big, the cat hasn't been doing her job. Everyone on the crew has a job."

"River." Jayne said. Both Tams glared at him.

"River's a different matter."

"How so?" Della asked, earning her a glare from Simon.

"Look, the cat is… well, the cat is a cat, and River is a human being hunted by the Alliance. There's an obvious difference."

"From my understanding, Mal, Inara is scared of rats. The cat keeps the rat population down. If you get rid of the cat, there's a large chance that the rat population will explode. That happens; you'll lose your companion." Della looked at Mal to see how he would react.

He just sighed. "Alright, I guess the cat can stay for a little while…" He then walked away.

Inara walked over to Della. "He likes you." She said.

Della smiled. "Oh please, he likes you more."


	7. Persephone

"Come on! It's my ship! LET ME ON!" Mal shouted. The cat had chased him off the ship in a hissing rage and was refusing to let him board. He wanted to throw the cat off the ship then and there. But he had the feeling Kaylee wouldn't like that.

"Prawns wants prawns." River said. "The captain can't come on until Prawns gets prawns."

"I think she means the cat wants prawns." Della translated, praying she was right. She'd picked up prawns on Persephone, not to mention a knife wound.

"I didn't buy any prawns. The cat can't have prawns. Now let me back on my gorramn ship!"

"Don't worry, Mal. I bought some." Della dropped the prawns at Prawns' feet. Now Prawns let Mal board.

…

"Hello River." Della said. "Do you like to dance?"

River looked at her. "You know. River dances. Watched the butterflies twirl across the field. Wanted to be like the butterflies. Became a butterfly."

"Okay." Della put on a quiet tune and the two danced. Soon they all were dancing, all but Prawns.

Prawns watched, alone. Everyone had someone to dance with. Everyone but Prawns. A small tear ran down her snout. How she longed for her own companion, a friend who was cat, like her. She wanted to dance with someone. She cried quietly to herself; let the tears flood her bowl of prawns. She was alone, but not alone. She did have human friends, but not friends she could talk with. But she wanted to dance, wanted to. She couldn't dance with them.

So she left them. They hadn't known that she had been watching them so they didn't notice her absence. But she had left them. She killed a small rat and ate it, thinking about more things.

The rats were running out. There was almost none left. When there were none the captain would dump her. She had to prepare. Maybe leave the crew on Rowany. But how could she leave them? She loved them, loved them all. She couldn't bear to. Maybe the captain would keep her around if the rats ran out. Keep her to prevent another infestation from happening. Maybe keep her for good luck.

She wanted to stay. But if she did, she needed someone to dance with. She knew who. She went on the bridge and grabbed one of Wash's dinosaurs. And that was where she danced.


	8. Dishes

"You two want to stop on Rowany because?" Mal asked. The companions had both requested stopping on Rowany, a forest planet, and he was confused as to why.

Inara sighed. "Because we both were offered jobs there and you've been keeping us away from planets with a decent client base. You can take work there, and we can do our job. It seems quite fair."

Mal glared at her. "I would like it if you checked with me what planets we were landing on before making arrangements with some _huā qiào_ gentleman on planets we weren't." "C'mon Mal, let 'em do their thing." Jayne said while gnawing on a chicken leg like some wild animal.

Mal gave the mercenary a queer look. "Why are you taking their side on this?" He asked.

Jayne spat out the chicken leg and Simon quickly excused himself from the table. "Our family was quite respectable, but Da went nuts when Della was 12. Mum booked got her to go to the academy and get our family a bit more respectability. Then Da disappeared and we left home. We had a plan to get a nice number of credits. 'Ya see, she'd go companion some fancy rich gent and give me the intel on how to break in. I'd wait few days, maybe a month, and rob the place. It was impossible to trace back to us."

"But then we got adventurous, left our home world and got separated. I gave up thieving, and he did it without me. But, of course, we thought the other was dead." Della explained.

"OI!" Jayne shouted, seeing his chicken leg being snatched away by Prawns. That had gone from River's nickname for the cat to the cat's real name after the incident on Persephone. Prawns pulled it into her bed and rolled on it, before offering it back to Jayne. "Never mind, you keep it."

Prawns gave a cheeky Cheshire cat-grin and began to eat it. Mal had a look at the plates on the table. "We'll be going to Rowany. Now, who'll help clean the dishes?"

"Sorry sir." Zoe said. "I'm already a bit busy tonight. I'll be doing the Wash." Wash smiled with a "Hell yeah" look on his face before leaving the room with Zoe.

"I promised Simon I'd help out with unwrapping Della's knife wound." Kaylee shot downstairs, River and Della following after her.

"I promised Vera I'd give her a polish and share a glass of beer with her. I'll be in my bunk." Jayne excused himself.

Mal soon found that everyone was busy with something. That left him, Prawns and a big pile of dishes to take care of. "Well, Prawns, looks like it's me and you. Will you do the dishes with me?" Prawns hissed and ran from the room as fast as her legs would carry her. "Just me, huh? Why is it that I'M always the only one without some excuse?"


	9. Rowany

"Do you want a lift? It's probably not too far out of my way. After all, we've both accepted jobs in the same city."

"A lift would be wonderful, thank you. Wait, Prawns, what are you doing?" Prawns had been acting weird all day, yowling and hissing and getting in the way. She let out a desperate mew and went into the shuttle's doorway, as if trying to prevent the companions from entering Inara's shuttle. "No, Prawns. You can't come, okay?" Della picked Prawns up and put her down, out on the main bridge across the cargo bay. She then boarded the shuttle. Prawns yowled as the shuttle pulled out and left.

River picked her up. "Prawns and River know. But no-one listens. No-one pays attention. They never do." Then River put her down.

Prawns kept on meowing and yowling and hissing, and she was infuriating Mal. "Prawns is getting out of hand! Little Kaylee, you better get that gorramn s _hee-niou_ cat to shut up or I'll shut her up!"

"Prawns…" Kaylee whispered, picking her up. "What's wrong?" Prawns just yowled louder and shook herself from Kaylee's grip.

Mal picked her up by the scruff of her neck. "Gorramn cat!" He yelled, throwing her onto the bridge and shutting the door. She mewed louder. Why weren't they listening? Didn't they know? River's macabre words entered her mind. _They never do…_

…

"You shouldn't throw Prawns. Prawns knows. River knows. But no one understands. No one listens to River and Prawns." River whispered. Mal ignored her. The gorramn cat was still yowling and a good throw, which would have shut any other cat up, hadn't quietened her in the slightest. The two doors, on the other hand, were doing an excellent job at muffling the yowls.

"Captain, you should be a little gentler with Prawns. She has been through an ordeal recently." Kaylee said.

"Zhùkǒu." Mal replied. "It was her own fault." Which was true. Prawns had been dumb enough to steal the sheriff's shiny badge and get herself caught and shoved in a canary cage. After waiting a full night with no sign of Prawns they established the cat had gotten nabbed. Della had gone into town and found that the cat had been caught. She bailed Prawns out and brought her back home to _Serenity_. So as far as Mal was concerned, that charade was Prawns' fault. … Prawns crossed her paws and lay there on the console in silence. Her throat felt like reavers had attacked it. That had what come of yowling as long and as loud as she could. She knew something was wrong, but nobody listened. They heard her but they didn't listen. Suddenly, the screen she lay on blared to life. "Mal *crackle* trapped. He *buzz* companions. Help us! We're *crackle* *fizz*. Oh no… *fizz* coming! Please… *BLEEEEEP!*" Prawns sprung into action, turning on the com and yowling as loud as she could. 


	10. Battle Plans

The yowl echoed across the ship and River seemed to have been prepared. She had covered her ears. But no one else had been. Mal stood up, furious. "I'm gonna kill that gorramn cat!"

Kaylee chased after him. "Captain…" Mal slid open the door. Prawns mewed quietly and pushed the playback button just before collapsing of exhaustion. Kaylee picked up Prawns and carried her to the kitchen, placing the kitty into her cat-bed before returning to hear the rest of the message with the others.

"-We're *crackle* *fizz*. Oh no… *fizz* coming! Please… *BLEEEEEP!*"

"What'll we do?" Jayne's voice was oddly quiet but still far from calm. "How are we gonna get Della and 'Nara out?"

Mal looked at the fuzzy message once more. "We're gonna work that out now."

…

The crew sat at the table together. Prawns was asleep. "Kaylee, you got the plans?" Mal asked.

"Sure do, captain. But how do you know they're in that building?" Kaylee passed the plans for the building over to Mal.

"Here's the thing," Mal said. "Inara and Della both charge a heap for their services and most people on Rowany are deathly poor. Except this fellow. He's got somethin' like 95 percent of that planet's money. He'd be able to afford it."

"So, how do we get in?" Zoe asked.

"Well-"

"I and Wash will shut off the all the security systems in the estate and you can walk on through. You just need to knock out the guards and shoot the cameras. Easy."

"Why do we need to shoot the cameras if they're off?" Jayne was upset that his older sister had gotten into this. They'd been used to trouble but his sister though a good fighter was still vulnerable like most folk without her beloved swords or another weapon.

"Because I'm not sure how long we can keep security down. Shooting the cameras will almost guarantee safe entrance." Wash said.

"Almost?"

"Well, there are still guard posts you need to get by, not to mention you need to get to the basement level. But it'll be easier to get out. You go through the side building and out the side exit. Just give us a buzz when you've found them and we'll meet you there."

"There's our plan. Anything else we should know?"

"Yeah, the cat tore up part of your cotton dress." Mal gave Wash an annoyed look. "Oh, and Inara and Della are probably locked up. If they are, he'll either keep the key in his office or on him."

"Right." Mal said. He stood up. "Let's get our friends back."


	11. Catfight

No one but River noticed Prawns sneak off the ship, tail so low it was almost touching the ground. "Going to save them. Help them." River whispered. "Bye Prawns."

Prawns mewed a farewell and left _Serenity._ The people of Rowany's capital were used to seeing cats around, so Prawns found it easy to sneak through the city unnoticed. What made it difficult was the sheer size of the city and the bright mirrored buildings that rose higher than the trees of the other towns. The light reflected off them, shining into her eyes. It was difficult to imagine that _this_ was the capital of a forest planet where most houses were giant trees. She had just found the estate when…

"GOTCHA!" A net fell over Prawns' head and she struggled to escape. "Ever since my old cat died I've been looking for a new cat to enter. And you look like quite a fighter." The man picked up the net and tipped her into a sack. After tying the bag shut, he walked away and whistled a little tune. She couldn't see where he was taking her, but she knew it was away from where she wanted to go.

Suddenly, she was tipped out into a land full of spotlights shining on her and illuminating an arena. She looked around, hissing. She shut her mouth as the light turned away from her and onto a gate. The gate opened, and a massive tomcat emerged, large and fierce. Stripes rolled down his back. He resembled a small tiger, with his sharp teeth and claws and the orange, black-striped pelt. "Here, kitty kitty." He snarled. "I don't bite." Prawns dived out of the way as the tom lunged for her. He hissed and swiped at her, his claws almost hitting her side. They would have if she hadn't dodged. "Coward," He hissed. He sprung toward her and she rolled out of the way. He snarled and crept toward her. He waited, watching her eyes dart to the left. He sprung and she bolted to the right. His eyes followed her sprinting and after she slowed, he crouched. Her eyes seemed to check her right. He sprung and she bolted to the left, as he had expected. He had leapt to the left and landed beside her, knocking her to the ground with a single swipe of his paw. "Dodging can only get you so far." He lifted his clawed paw to deliver the final blow.

"Stupidhead," She replied. She chomped down on his throat, killing him. The small crowd cheered. She smiled, panting as she pulled herself out from under him. She placed a paw on his side and whispered, "Brute force can only get you so far."

The man picked her up. "I knew you were a fighter!" He said. Seeing her chance, Prawns pulled out of his grip and ran away, escaping the fighting arena and getting back to the estate. It was at this moment she was surprised that she had found it difficult to find the estate.

The central building was the tallest building in the city. One side of it was rounded and covered in windows but the other was flat and made of marble. How had she struggled to find the one building that wasn't painful to look at? She had no clue.

Prawns found a gap in the side of the building, an air vent and climbed through the building. After hours of a long climb through the vents she found the room she was looking for: the main man's office. She saw a large collection of keys hanging from a single keychain, and decided this was her target. She leapt from the ceiling and grabbed the keys on her way down. After pulling herself into another air vent, keys in mouth, she grinned to herself. _Jack MacLean can suck it,_ she thought. _I'm a real cat burglar._


	12. It's Harder Down than Up

Prawns proceeded along her merry way and soon came to a vent that descended straight down, past all floors, stopping at the basement. It was quicker, but risky. She decided that she had to be as quick as possible and dropped the keys down. She dropped promptly after them. She spun and her position of spread legs and upright tail slowed her decent considerably. The wind was whistling past her ears and she felt the keys bounce against her belly. Her jaws clamped shut on them as she felt agonizing cold on her paws and her legs collapsed under her weight as she hit the ground... she heard a loud ringing. She realised it was her ears.

...

So far, all things had gone to plan. But Jayne knew that things were likely to turn nasty at any second. Though they had managed to take out plenty of guards there seemed to be more where they came from. Mal quickly put a bullet through a nearby camera and they continued onwards, slowly as they knew there was a guard station nearby. But the hallway was oddly empty, as if they'd all been called somewhere else.

"Sir, aren't things a little quiet?" Zoe said. "You'd think even with the security down they'd have issued a few guards here. We haven't exactly been silent."

"I'm not complainin'. Means things are a bit quieter than expected. I like in when things are quieter in this sense."

...

Prawns slowly lifted herself to her feet. Her legs didn't seem to be broken, after all cats always land on their feet and they were designed to survive falls. Plus, she'd only fallen from the first floor.

After leaving the vent she pawsed. She could not believe what she was seeing. Everywhere she looked she saw many, many cells. Most held a companion, but others were empty. No companion saw her as her dark fur helped to hide her from the human eye. She wandered in silence, until she found the cell she wanted.

She recognised Della's expensive woven blanket and found a gap in the bars that was big enough for her to climb through. It seemed as if there had been a bar there and someone had pulled it out. Della wasn't asleep, but sitting in the corner, holding the big iron bar. Prawns crawled into her lap and dropped the keys. Della picked the keys up and looked them over, before walking to the door and unlocking it. Prawns just crawled through the gap in the bars.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a big black pit bull leapt on top of her. He snarled, and Prawns tried to stand. However, when she put weight on her right front leg she yowled and fell to the ground. As suddenly as he appeared, the pit bull fell down, dead as a dinosaur. Della had broken its neck with the iron bar. She gently picked Prawns up and proceeded in releasing the other companions.

Barking filled the corridors. More dogs were approaching, their jaws snapping as they barked, their foul breath fuelling Prawns' fears. She shook in the kind arms of Della, terrified. And every second they ran the dogs got closer.

...

Once in the office Jayne, Mal and Zoe found next to nothing they were looking for. There were no keys to open any cages, but Jayne did find his sister's swords. "Typical, she never goes nowhere without them, and lets them get stolen." He muttered, slipping them into a gun sheath. Alarms started sounding, ringing loud. Sirens blared.

"WASH!" Mal shouted.

 _"That one wasn't us. Security's still down, according to the computer."_

"Well, alarms are going off. It doesn't seem to be down."

 _"We're trying! Wait, What?_ "

"What Wash, what?"

 _"It's a breach, and as I said, the monitor says security's down. But another scan shows Security's still up in other places and the breach isn't in your area."_

"Where is it then?"

 _"Apparently someone had the same idea as us and is trying to rescue Inara and Della, but this whole thing seems to be larger than two companions. They could've been trying to rescue another companion and tripped the alarm, or could have been trying to save them all."_

"I need that in Captain dummy talk."

"The breach is in the basement."

"Okay. So what do we do now?"

 _"I don't know. I'm just the pilot. You're meant to have the plan."_

...

Prawns was in pain. Her leg felt horrible at the shoulder and she couldn't escape the agony. No matter how Della or Inara held her the pain was still there. It ate away at her like how acid ate away steel. She quietly shut her eyes and waited for it to stop. She felt herself moving without actually moving. She was being carried. Words were being spoken, but they sounded dull and faint and far away. She felt them stop moving and heard what sounded like joy at the same time as fear. She didn't care though. She opened her eyes and saw other humans, but they were blurry and the colours mixed together. She knew she should know them, but they were so very far away… she shut her eyes again and lay still, her only movement being the rising and lowering of her side.


	13. On the Bridge

Della and Inara rounded a corner and much to their surprise encountered Mal, Zoe and Jayne. They had a quick reunion of brother and sister hugs and words. "How'd you get out?" Mal asked. "We were coming to rescue you because of that distress message. If you could get out on your own, why'd you call us for help?"

"We couldn't." Della replied. "Not without the keys, which Prawns provided."

"Prawns?" Mal was surprised. Last he had seen the cat, she'd been asleep in her basket. "How'd she end up on this adventure?"

"I don't know how, she just did and she's badly hurt!"

"What happened?" Zoe asked.

"A dog jumped on her."

"That's why mother never let us keep dogs. They're vicious things if you don't look after them right." Jayne sighed.

" _Mal, the plan's going a bit wrong._ "

"You don't say."

" _You can't get out the planned exit. Seems there's a dà_ _number of guards round there. Only way out's through the front door._ "

" _Tai kong suo yo duh shing chiou sai jin wuh duh pee goo_ why does nothing ever go smooth?! Alright, how do we get the front door?"

" _Well, you can't get to it on this floor, but there is another way. If you go upstairs and left you'll come to a bridge. It goes over to the main building. From there you just go down and out."_ They ran, but when they came to the bridge they were encountered by a man and two guards. This man was finely dressed, with a fine vest, top hat and a cane. He was obviously quite rich, and both Inara and Della knew who he was.

"My companions! Why are you leaving?"

"You know why, Albrecht Lampman." Della snapped.

Albrecht smiled. "I do not." He pulled a sword slowly out of his cane. Della grabbed her swords. "So, you're a feisty one." He lifted his sword and swung quickly from the shoulder. "Let's see how feisty you can be!" Della raised her swords and blocked his attack.

Mal drew his pistol, but Inara was quick to stop him. "Della can handle this one."

Della's two swords clashed against his one. The two were evenly matched. Neither seemed to tire as they fought against each other. She would pull a complex sword manoeuvre and he would block. But finally, he lowered his guard to stab her. Before he could, she slit open his side. Blood poured across the bridge and he fell off. She sighed. Suddenly, one of Albrecht's hands grabbed her ankle and pulled her over the edge as well.

"DELLA!" Jayne yelled. He ran to the side of the bridge and grabbed her hands, refusing to let anything distract him from his sister.

"Jayne, take Prawns." She passed the small knapsack up to him. Jayne didn't grab it. He knew that if he took the cat he would drop his sister. Inara took it. "Let go, brother."

"NO! Della, I can't lose you too!"

"Jayne…"

"No, Della! Don't make me let you go!" Jayne's feet were slowly creeping towards the edge, despite his best efforts to keep them planted.

"I won't." Della shut her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. She pulled her hands out of his and fell.

"NO! Della…"

Mal was shocked, but he knew that he had to go. "Jayne, there's no time. We have to go." Jayne stood up, blood soaking his pants knee down.

"Okay…" He whispered, his voice sounding like he was being choked. … They ran onto _Serenity_.

"Wash, we're on! Get us out of here!" Mal shouted.

Jayne ran to the infirmary. "Doc, we have a serious injury here!" He placed Prawns on the table. Simon looked at the cat in shock.

"How did this happen?" He asked.

"She got crushed by a dog."

Simon shook his head. "I'm not a vet, Jayne. I can't do this."

"Simon can fix Prawns. He can." River whispered.

Simon looked at Jayne, River and Kaylee. He sighed. It couldn't hurt to try… "I'll do my best."

"Wait, where's Della?" Kaylee asked.

Jayne's head hung low. "She's not coming…"


	14. Time to say goodbye

_6 months before Miranda…_

It had been a full year since Della had died and the cat had survived, her leg having healed up brilliantly. Both Inara and Book had left soon after Della's death.

They were all laughing at one of Wash's jokes when suddenly Prawns yowled and collapsed onto the table. She panted heavily and she looked at Jayne, eyes wide with terror. The entire crew came to the infirmary as Simon looked her over. He ran his hand over Prawns' side and her legs. After an hour of checking her over he came out and told them the news.

"Well, her old broken leg somehow gave in. Her dog bite never healed properly and it has opened up again, and gotten infected."

"So, fix it!" Jayne snapped.

Simon sighed. "It's worse than the leg and the infected bite. Her near-death experience last year did permanent damage on her heart." He paused. "It's failing."

"Well fix it gorramn it!"

"I can't." Simon lowered his eyes.

"Please, she's all I have left." Jayne looked at Simon. "Please…"

"Jayne, if the doctor says he can't save her, he can't save her." Mal said. He sounded sad, which was strange. They thought he hated the cat.

"We should put her down." Simon realised that he'd said the wrong thing when Jayne stood up and walked over to him.

"We're not going to kill her. She's going to die of natural causes."

"If we put her down she won't die in pain. If we don't put her down, she will."

"Please don't make me shoot her." Mal was actually close to crying.

"We don't have to shoot her, we can simply put her to sleep. Are you all gonna say goodbye?"

"What?" Jayne looked up. "We're doing it now?"

"It's better to let her suffer for less time."

…

Each of them had a turn to say goodbye, each with their own special way. Kaylee read to her. Wash gave her one of his beloved dinosaurs to keep her company. Mal just stood beside her quietly.

And Jayne stroked her while Simon put her to sleep.


	15. Epilogue

We exited _Serenity_ in a queer funeral procession. The hole was dug beside the grave I had made for my sister, so long ago. I lowered her into the hole, and looked at her. Her soft grey fur shone and her body curved like a rainbow. Tears ran down my face, almost freezing in the cold as I remembered how just days ago she was feasting on prawns, playing with River and getting into trouble.

"I've just got dust in my eyes…" I hear Mal say.

"Yes Mal, it's a _very_ dusty planet." Wash replies. In truth, the snow is too thick for any dust to be getting into his eyes. He's crying, but won't admit it. I quietly fill the hole and place the cat statue on top. The small inscription, we all knew fitted her nicely.

Prawns

The Cat of Serenity was an inquisitive creature. She liked thieving, hunting and the people who fed her. She loved to play and sleep in the sun And the crew hopes she ate the fish they gave her before she left.

Wash placed the little dinosaur down and after that the others began to leave. Soon I was the only one left standing there. After an hour of being alone in the cold, Kaylee came back to join me, dressed up warm. "Hey, the others are drawing straws to see who has to do the dishes tonight and placing bets on who's gonna draw the short." She lowers her tone and joins me by the side of the grave. "Will you be alright?" She asked.

"I will, eventually." I reply. I take a deep breath. "It's like someone shot a bullet right through my stomach, leaving a great big hole. Eventually, it'll start to close from the outside in. And one day, it'll be different. The weight I carry won't feel as heavy." I look at her and she simply nods. "Of course, then I'll hear a song, or the wind will blow the wrong way, and the hole will tear wide open again. But it will heal back faster, every time it happens. A death isn't like losing a job, or getting divorced. You don't get over it. You have to make it work into your life, learn to live with it. But… life will get better."

She smiled sadly, and gave me a cup of hot chocolate (which Mal had purchased a while ago). "I know. You were the closest to her. Closer than me. But I loved her too. Do you want some more time alone with her?" She asked. I looked at the grave and turned back to her.

"No, little Kaylee. I think it's time for us to go home…" As I boarded I turned and looked at the grave. It was quiet, and the snow slowly fell onto her grave and around her. I realised how much she would have loved the snow. Tears rolled down my face.

"Jayne? Are you okay?" Kaylee asked.

"…No." I whisper. I watch the snow once again. "But I will be…" The cargo door closes slowly. "Goodbye…" I whisper, before masking my emotions and going to gamble with the rest of the crew.

 **The End**


End file.
